“Let us be bound.”
“Breathe together,” Veyra said, stepping backwards. “And let your souls find one another.”
Kara drew in a shuddering breath, and reached out for Sebastian’s other hand. His fingers were trembling slightly as she laced hers through his, but the moment their fingers locked, their magic stirred. The familiar rush of warmth, of strength filled her – then it exploded from them. Crimson poured from Sebastian’s skin, alive and fierce. Another thread followed – a soft yellow, warm as sunlight. Sorrel – his mother’s. He looked at it in surprise. Kara gasped as her own emerald burst free, twining upward, soon joined by a shimmering violet that she had never summoned before.
Lyran magic.
The air in the temple filled with a weaving storm of magic. Crimson coiled with emerald, yellow tangled with violet, their strands knotting tighter and tighter until the whole circle blazed around them; a rainbow of colour. As suddenly as it started, the threads fused into the same gold that they had produced at the Fire Temple. It flooded outward, dazzling, brilliant, binding them in a sphere of light.
Then it happened.
Their souls collided – no longer apart, no longer two. The force of it took her breath away. Memories not her own burned through her: Sebastian in the training yard, fists raw and bleeding. His joy the first time he bested a captain. His mother’s laugh – warm, bright, gone too soon. His terror when Kara had been taken. His fierce protectiveness – willingness to fight, to kill if needed – yet the aching guilt at every choice that had led them here. And surrounding it was the truth of him. His love for her. His loyalty to Vallenna. His soul – Gods, it was good. Good and full of light. She had known it, knew his fears had been unfounded, but to feel it was something else. Something more beautiful than she could have imagined.
You were so wrong about yourself, Sebastian. So wrong.
His strength flowed through her veins, hot and fierce, burning away her fear, her weaknesses. Her own power reached for him instinctively, wrapping him close, pulling him in. She poured every ounce of love, every drop of certainty she had into him. His magic – his entire being answered – filling her like it had always belonged there. And through the bond, she felt his shock at her conviction, his awe at being chosen.
I’ll always choose you.
And beneath it all, blazing like fire in the dark: want. He wanted her, utterly, endlessly. She allowed her own desire to fill her, so he could feelit too. The golden light dimmed, folding into their skin leaving a fine shimmer, but the bond did not fade. It pulsed, alive, like something threaded through her own heartbeat. She pressed a trembling hand against her chest and felt... him. His presence. Inside her.
We did it. He’s mine. I’m his. Forever.
She looked up at him, saw the shock and wonder mirrored on his face. Not only that. She couldfeelit. His emotions were coursing through her as if they were her own.
Takes some adjustment. Yeah, you could say that.
Sebastian was breathing as though he’d run miles, and tears streaked freely down Kara’s cheeks, but she didn’t care.
“Kara,” he whispered, voice raw.
She surged forward at the exact moment he did, and their lips crashed together. It wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t careful. It was untamed, desperate even. Full of all the things they couldn’t put into words. Sebastian reached up to frame her face. His hands were shaking. She grabbed his shirt and dragged him closer, holding him to her. She wanted to keep him there forever. The bond flared brighter at the contact, their magic sparking gold between them joyfully. When at last they broke apart, it was reluctantly, and mostly because they needed to breathe.
“Kara,” he said hoarsely. “You’re part of me now. Forever.”
She laughed, breathless and tear-stained. “Exactly where I want to be.”
Finally, Veyra spoke again. “It is done. From this night, your souls are one. No power in Vallenna can unmake it.” She smiled down at them, more warmly than Kara had seen before. “The Healer and the Warrior. It was Written.”
She turned her back, waiting patiently at the temple entrance for them. It took them several minutes to gather themselves enough to stand. They followed Veyra quietly back through the winding paths of the city. Kara could barely think straight, all she could feel was Sebastian. A sudden spike of adrenaline that wasn’t hers when his attention was drawn to a shadowy alleyway, a prickle of unease when someone passed too close, his warrior instincts bleeding into her. She was so distracted that she lost her footing on an uneven cobblestone. The rush of protectiveness that hit her as he reached for her arm made her gasp.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I can feel it,” she said, steadying herself. “You. All of it.” She looked up at him. “You’re protective of me.”
“Of course I am.”
“But you noticeeverything, every movement, every shadow–”
He raised an eyebrow. “You can feel all that?”
“It’s...”
“A lot?” he supplied.
“Intense. But–”
“But what?”
